Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Random Bits and Bobs

Ever since Bubs started primary school, weekdays have been a blurry rush of beating peak time traffic, unpacking and repacking his school bag, cramming in some revision all while trying to cook dinner and do the laundry at the same time. Whew! I get tired even thinking of it. Bub's weakest subject is Bahasa Melayu so I usually scan his school books to have an idea of what the teacher has covered, jot down a quick vocab list to practise with him and also get him to do a page or two from workbooks. Sometimes Bubs will read a Malay picture book with Hubs and again, I quiz him on vocabulary. #TigerMum, hear me roar.

So apart from school stuff, this is what we have been up to. I've said it again and again, Bubs is incredibly lucky to have grandparents that adore him and think that he can do no wrong. During the last school holidays, both sets of grandparents were squabbling over who got to look after him.

Meal planning has been such a time saver and sometimes on weekends, I pre-cook for the week ahead and store them in the freezer. This simple braised peanut dish is a favourite of mine as it makes for a tasty side dish to rice porridge. All you need, apart from the time required to slowly braising them, are peanuts (soaked for a few hours to soften them), star anise, cloves, cinnamon pieces, 5 spice powder, soy sauce, dash of oyster sauce and sugar to taste.

Taking some time out to smell the roses admire bonsais. My dad's friend has this amazing bonsai collection and each time I visit him, I am just in awe at how artistic he is in arranging the layout and the infinite care and patience he has in babying them. Look at how he packed soil and rocks on a very shallow tray and getting them to form a craggy mount for the bonsai to grow on.

Bubs has been trying his hand at short creative writing and at times, I don't know whether to laugh or cry at his attempts. In typical Bubs style, he rushes through his work to get it over with. For his imaginary pet monkey, he initially stopped after "it won't eat you", saw me arching an eyebrow at him and tapping at the paper, before wisely deciding to expand it just a bit more. Bubs, oh, Bubs ...

Art is one of his favourite classes so he was excited to do this cool fingerpainting art at home. We found it amusing that strong-willed Bubs was unusually insistent in following the art teacher's suggested composition, right down to the exact number of flowers ;)

And random scribbling to his heart's content. He's recently discovered the beauty of ink-based markers (more vibrant & bolder than colour pencils) and is obsessed with using them all the time.